[rednblack]

Well, this doesn't look good.  James will turn Wireless On and Run Silent.  Since it sounds like each spirit would need to beat Illeana's Detect Enemies spell -- some pretty good rolling on their part, even with a Force 8 spirit at the helm -- I'm going to roll with it and see what they have to say.

I figure a Composure roll, and a Judge Intentions roll are both in order.  The first is mostly for my benefit, to see how well James is keeping things together.  The latter I'm not expecting much from -- spirits, especially loa probably act in a way that is alien by their nature -- but I'm including it nonetheless.

For Composure I have:  CHA (4) + WIL (7) = 11 dice.
Composure: 11d6t5 7
Cool as a cucumber.

For Judge Intentions I have: CHA (4) + INT (9) = 13 dice.
Judge Intentions: 13d6t5 1
One more 1 and that would've been a glitch.  Coulda been interesting. 

[Tecumseh]

James is as cool as a cucumber stored in the cold part of the refrigerator. His lack of concern for Illeana is chilling. (Alternatively, his confidence in her survivability is uplifting.)

James hasn't got a clue what the spirits are thinking. He's used to bug spirits, not spirits who want to Play People.

OOCly, you could conclude that it unlikely that each spirit beat Illeana's roll. That might mean either A) the spirits are not hostile, or B) that the hostilities will originate from the leader, who may (or may not) have beaten the roll.

I'll try to advance things tonight.

[Tecumseh]

Looking back to the encounter with the witch, I see that I originally said that Illeana was using her Essence to boost herself to Magic 11. I later rolled Magic 12 for her summoning, so I'm ruling that she spent her 7th point of Essence to raise to Magic 12.

Separately, reading the rules today I see that Initiate grade cannot be higher than Magic. Illeana is Magic 6 (when not boosting it) but Initiate grade 7, so I'll need to advance her Magic a couple times before Initiating again. That could slow me down considerably (but reasonably).

Illeana is attempting her Masking bluff, to make her Magic rating appear even higher than it already is.

Illeana's Masking: Magic 12 + Initiate 7: 19d6t5 7 hits
Houngan's Assensing: Intuition + Assensing: ?d6t5 5 hits, Illeana wins!

Illeana's knowledge of exchange rates: Logic 5 + Finance 6 + Personal Investing 2: 13d6t5 2 hits, hmm, what are two hits worth

Separately, your IC post mentions the satellite link but it's not mentioned in any of the OOC load outs. You had mentioned it as a possibility on 6/13 but hadn't explicitly purchased it. We need to be consistent about that in the future.

James looking up exchange rates: Logic 4 + Computer 4 - Noise 5: 3d6t5 1 hit, James finds the answer

With 23 dice to soak drain, Illeana has a 99.9% chance of soaking 2S drain. That's 1 chance in 1000 that she'll take any drain, so I'm going to say that she can magically toss all the product over - even one-by-one, 600 times - and only incur minimal drain. I'll say 2S total. The advantage is that this process only take maybe 3-4 minutes, which is considerably faster and less exhausting than moving them by hand.

Pausing at this point to let James evaluate the situation and contribute as he feels appropriate. Let me know if you want to roll anything. I know we're advancing in broad strokes here, so let me know if James would have spoken up at some earlier point.

[rednblack]

James is as cool as a cucumber stored in the cold part of the refrigerator. His lack of concern for Illeana is chilling. (Alternatively, his confidence in her survivability is uplifting.)

Yeah, that's my main worry.  Astral Combat being of the few things that Illeana is really susceptible, and 7 chummers capable of tearing into her is problematic.  Also, James certainly doesn't know enough ICly, and I don't know OOCly whether geeking the big guy would cause Possession spirits to sever their link with the summoner and bounce.  Hoping we don't have to find out.

And they have paid, so there's that.  I think that while James is sitting cool and collected, he's still aware of exactly how dangerous this situation is.  As such, he will not be attempting to negotiate.  Let's hope that doesn't come across as some sort of weakness on his part.  Given how they've approached though, I think it's fair to assume they think the deal is already finalized.

I don't have anything conversation-wise to add at this point.  James is going to stay on watch, assault rifle at the low ready -- but obviously not making any threatening gestures with it -- and prepare to get the frag out of there as soon as the last kilo is on the party boat.

Separately, your IC post mentions the satellite link but it's not mentioned in any of the OOC load outs. You had mentioned it as a possibility on 6/13 but hadn't explicitly purchased it. We need to be consistent about that in the future.

Well, that goes to show you how reliable memory is, or at least mine.  I could've sworn the reason I remembered having a Satellite Link was from when I was doing my load out.  Sorry about that.  Should it come down to shooting, we'll forgo the Wireless bonuses that need matrix access to work.

I'll try to get an IC up today that just covers James' perception of what's going on during the exchange.  Once the last kilo is in the air, he'll take the helm and start backing the boat up.

[Tecumseh]

Thanks for the IC. I'll try to post again today but I have another deadline tomorrow.

[Tecumseh]

Just now wrapping up the deadline work, so I'll probably wind down rather than writing a post.

Do me a favor and roll a Visual Perception check. Per the calendar, moonrise is not until after 2am, so it's dark as drek right now. Environmental modifier is Total Darkness (-6) staged up to Dim Light (-3) by your thermographic vision.

Illeana: Intuition 10 + Perception 5 + Mask 3 + Perceptive II 2 - Dim Light 3: 17d6t5 9 hits, that's pretty good, I guess

That's her Mental limit, so keeps them all for the time being. Go ahead and roll James' anyway.

[rednblack]

For Perception I have: INT (9) + Perception (6) + Visual Spec (2) = 17 dice.
Perception: 17d6t5 3
Forgot lighting. 
-3 for light: 3d6t5 1
So 2 hits.  Looks like James is relying on Illeana for this one.

[Tecumseh]

You have Vision Enhancement 2 in your cybereyes too, but it still looks like Illeana is going to be the one on the ball here.

I'll try to IC later today.

[rednblack]

I wasn't sure if Vision Enhancement was one that required matrix functionality.

[Tecumseh]

Eh, I gave it to Illeana. The Internet won't help you see. Going wireless through your PAN just means that you're available for hacking, should I feel like it.

[rednblack]

Cool.
Vision Enhancement: 2d6t5 0
nope.

[Tecumseh]

IC post is up. Some details:

OOCly, you're in a mana surge. The background count is now 5. Illeana feels like drek and - being dual-natured - is now at -5 to all her actions. The same is true of the fire spirit. The water spirit and air spirit are gone, lost in the flood of mana.

Illeana's foci are all deactivated. All of her quickened spells are now down to F1, meaning that they only have 1 hit. James' Combat Sense and Intuition bonuses are now 1 each.

Even losing 5 dice - and thus 4 hits - Illeana still has 5 Perception hits. That's enough to see something that isn't right, and to give her enough warning to get her and James down into cover. I thought about requiring Illeana to use the Lucky Duck action from Run & Gun but that's more for shouted/commed warnings. As Illeana had sufficient notice to act physically, there is no need for her to spend Edge nor for James to roll to dodge.

The fire spirit isn't quite as lucky. It can't dodge - it knows enough not to dive into the airboat with you, nor into the swamp - so it's going to eat a ton of suppressive fire. (It could fly up, but it would still be caught in the cone of fire.) The good news is that its Immunity to Normal Weapons is based off its Essence rating; as such, its armor is unaffected by the mana surge. Between its armor and the positive AP modifier of flechette ammo, I'm going to say that it can soak up the incoming fire without needing to roll.

We're not technically in Initiative yet but let's keep the initial round of actions limited to 1 CT worth, so say 3 IPs. Tactically, James will be wary of someone lobbing a grenade in the boat while you're pinned down under undodgeable suppressive fire. That's what he would do, at least.

You're still about 50 meters away from the Waveskimmer. You don't know how many shooters there are, but you might be able to find out if you get lucky with an Observe in Detail action.

Ball is in your court.

[rednblack]

I will indeed make an Observe in Detail.  I have: INT (6) + Perception (6) + Visual Spec (2) + Vision Enhancement (2) + Specifically Looking (3) - Vision Penalties (3) = 16 dice.
Perception + Specifically Looking + Visual: 16d6t5 2
Not good.

I'm also interested in knowing if James would know if a Mana Surge can be manufactured.  Rolling Magical Theory for that.  I have: LOG (4) + Magical Theory (1) = 5 dice.
Magical Theory: Mana Surge: 5d6t5 5
James has studied Mana Surges extensively.

Despite Illeana's protests, I think the swamp may well be the best bet.  It will pull Illeana out of Line of Sight for Astral Combat, and it doesn't appear as though Possession spirits can Astrally Project to follow them.  Speaking of which, I'm assuming that James never lost sight of the 7 possessed voudon, so he can reasonably rule them out as the shooters.  Likewise, they decided to pay us, which is interesting and disconcerting.  I'm not sure if these guys are combatants as well, or if they simply came to do the deal while the Sangre y Acero sent their own team.  If that's the case, the voudon could very well come ready to pay, but whatever happens to us afterward is none of their concern.  On the other hand, paying us could very well just be part of the plan to separate the sellers from the product before filling the boat and its inhabitants full of flechette and sniper rifle fire.  I think James' tactical senses would approve in either case.

Ok, back to the swamp.  Illeana's Combat Sense is obviously not to be trusted, even before the Mana Surge.  This means that the Waveskipper may well be compromised.  But the air boat definitely is, and there are bound to be grenades coming down the pipe their way.  I'm not too worried about the shotgun's Suppressive Fire, though I'd rather James and Illeana not eat a sniper's bullet.  If hit (Full Defense ftw here), an average Soak roll from the former would soak all but 6S from an Auto-Assault 16, and injecting a Stim Patch would take care of the rest, leaving James without any negative wound modifiers.  A sniper's bullet would obviously be much more dangerous.  Staying in the air boat is likely to deal a lot more damage, and it'll be sunk and they'll be in the swamp soon regardless.  James is going to suggest to Illeana that they take their chances underwater.

IP1
Simple: Observe in Detail (covered above)
Simple: Turn Jammer On
Free: Text Illeana

IP2
Complex: Open up the throttle on the air boat via remote control
Free: Text Illeana

IP3
Simple: Grab Illeana's Claymore
Simple: Grab Illeana

I'll get an IC up, let Illeana respond, and hear back on the OOC chatter before I commit to going underwater.

[rednblack]

My laptop is giving me fits today, so that last OOC post took awhile to get up.  Just posting again in case you caught it in pieces.

[Tecumseh]

James cannot look above the hull of the boat without catching multiple rounds of flechette ammo in the face. If you want to put the ballistics mask to the test, we can roll - the AP will be in your favor - but presumably you won't want to. If you do, you'll be at some pretty horrible penalties due to the suppressive fire.

Between the Select Sound Filter and Spatial Recognizer in your ballistic mask, you can pinpoint four different shooters. They are spread out in a fan to the south, we'll say at the 4 o'clock, 5 o'clock, 7 o'clock, and 8 o'clock positions. They are positioned to catch you in the cross-fire. The airboat is headed south, toward the Waveskipper. If you open up the throttle, this will take you directly into the cones of fire. Furthermore, if the sniper rifle is in an elevated position - James would be, if he were the sniper - moving toward the shooter could provide an angle for the shooter to shoot into the boat.

None of the shooters are coming from the direction that the Voudon headed off in. Based on James' knowledge of firearms, he knows that he didn't see any weapons of this caliber in the hands of the Voudon. James can hear at least one of each of the following: assault rifle, automatic shotgun, LMG. These are not the SMGs and machine pistols that the Voudon had.

Illeana is skeptical about the possibility of a grenade, reasoning that the shooters would not want to sink 1) the money or 2) the product. (The shooters may not know which you have.) That said, she feels like drek and isn't necessarily thinking clearly at the moment. There are other things that she would think ICly if she weren't at significant penalties, but she is, so she isn't.

The airboat fan, motor, and gearbox are eating at least four rounds of flechette ammo every second. Granted that the DV is low due to spread and the AP is poor due to flechette and most of it will bounce (producing the aforementioned flechette rain), but eventually - and likely soon - some pellet or flechette is going to find its way through and royally gum things up.

James is one of the world's leading authorities on Mana Surges. He knows and comprehensively understands the IC implications of everything I said OOCly yesterday. He doesn't know how powerful the surge is, but between Illeana's comments and his own understanding of background count he'll know that Illeana's bound spirits are gone, that the remaining fire spirit is significantly weakened, that Illeana's foci are deactivated, that her alchemical preparations may not work any longer, and that her quickened spells are severely diminished but will eventually replenish if removed from the mana surge (provided that the surge doesn't get worse, which would pop the spells). Any type of casting could produce wild and unpredictable effects. This mana surge is likely related to a Dragon Line (a.k.a. Mana Line Type D), which are related to geographic energies.